The appearance of Mary to three shepherd children in 1917 in Fatima, Portugal, is depicted in a stained-glass window at St. Mary Church in Manhasset, N.Y.

GREGORY A. SHEMITZ/cns

Fatima celebrations begin

Staff report

Parishes in the Diocese of Oakland are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima.

Pope Francis will lead the evening recitation of rosary and celebrate Mass on the anniversary at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima when he visits Portugal May 12-13. The pope will make the two-day pilgrimage to the site where Mary appeared to three shepherd children May 13, 1917. The apparitions continued once a month until Oct. 13, 1917, and later were declared worthy of belief by the Catholic Church.

During his visit, the pope also will meet with President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and have lunch with the bishops of Portugal. Pope Francis will be the fourth pontiff to visit the Marian shrine, following in the footsteps of Blessed Paul VI, St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, who each made visits on a May 13 to mark the anniversary of the first apparition.

At St. James the Apostle Parish in Fremont, this is the eighth year for Fatima devotions, said Rev. Antony Vazhappilly, the pastor.

Mass will be celebrated at 7:30 p.m. May 13 at St. James, 34700 Fremont Blvd., Fremont, and the parish will gather on the 13th of each month, through October, for Mass at 7:30 p.m. Mass will be followed by a candlelight Marian procession around the parking lot. After the procession, there will be a short Eucharistic Adoration in the church, which will be concluded by benediction. A special blessing will be given to those who are sick.

At St. Margaret Mary Parish, 1219 Excelsior Ave., Oakland, on the 13th of every month from May to October, there will be a procession in the Church of the statue of Our Lady of Fatima after weekday Masses at 6 p.m., after Saturday Mass at 8 a.m., and after the Sunday Mass at 10.30 a.m., said Rev. Glenn Naguit, parochial administrator.

At St. Bonaventure Parish, 5562 Clayton Road, Concord, a Salesian priest from Bangalore, India, will offer a Fatima program May 11-13.

Rev. Roberto Corral, OP, pastor at Most Holy Rosary Parish in Antioch, reports the parish has an annual three-day Fatima novena, with a procession and Mass followed by a traditional Portuguese Festa do Espiritu Santo. The novena is May 4-6 and the procession, Mass and festa are May 7. "A statue of Our Lady of Fatima is in our daily Mass chapel that is named after her," he said, and the statue is carried with the procession on the third evening of the novena.